Chapter 58: Worst outcome

Artoria heard Haruki’s compliment and glanced at her image in the mirror.

She currently wore a white-colored two-piece battle dress. The upper vest was parted from her navel into two pointy portions, which connected diagonally to the back portion. The vest was held by two strings attached diagonally to a choker on her fair neck.

She put a hand on her chest which was revealed by the dress. Her dress showed a fair bit of her cleavage, along with her neck and collarbones.

A diamond-shaped cutout was present in the middle below her breasts.

Her white-colored battle skirt was parted in the middle, just like her vest, revealing a blue frilly underskirt connected with the outer one.

Her arms up to her shoulders were covered in white ruffles.

“This is gorgeous,” Haruki complimented her with an amused smile as he crossed his arms on his chest. Fate was truly ironic considering her dress was opposite to what she wore in her Alter Ego aka Black Saber.

Artoria brushed off his compliment with a polite smile. “This is too eye-catching.”

“You can distract students like this.”

Medea kicked open the door, only to freeze. “T-This outfit… so cute!”

Medea launched herself at Artoria and rubbed her cheeks against her. Artoria’s eyes turned round as her ahoge swiveled foolishly as though expressing her astonishment.

‘She brought anime laws to real-life.’

Semiramis walked up to Haruki and hooked her arm around his. “Let’s exchange some affectionate words in my room.”

“Sure.”

He agreed readily, leaving Semiramis with a wide-open mouth. She was rejected last time, but he accepted her ‘suggestion’ this time around. She looked at his grin and shuddered.

“Y-Yes. Let’s go,” she stammered and took his hand.

Her protruding bronze spike returned to the spiritual form as soon as it came in contact with his hand. The Protection from the Witches protected him from harm by directly affecting the cause of harm, who was Semiramis in this case.

Semiramis’s eyes widened briefly before she regained a subtle smile. “A neat trick if I must say, my master.”

“What neat trick?” he asked with an innocent expression. “Did something happen?”

Semiramis shook her head before she led him into her room. She had claimed the most lavish bedroom for herself with a queen-size bed. Haruki sat down on the bed.

“Whose house is it by the way?”

“Nobody’s,” Semiramis said as she sat beside him. Her scent drifted toward him, clinging to his senses in a futile attempt to seduce him. “It was vacant when we found it.”

“It’s not bad actually.”

The mansion was close to the Matou Household.

“Can you scout a mansion for me?”

“Why, of course. Leave that to me. Anything else, my master?” she asked as she leaned against his shoulder, nearly brushing their lips. “I can do anything my master suggests.”

Haruki was more than tempted to push her down to teach her the consequences of provoking a young dragon. But he didn’t want to break Medea’s heart for a momentary impulse.

“Slap me.”

Semiramis stared at him as though he was some rare creature. “My… this is unusual. I didn’t anticipate my master to have that kink. Can you repeat the order please?”

“I said slap me,” he repeated calmly and turned to face. “As hard as you can.”

He had to test the limits of this protection for any future authority he got from his mother or someone else.

“I will obey your command,” Semiramis said and slapped him with the entire force of her E-rank strength. Contrary to her expectations of dying his face red, her hand crumbled into white particles.

“No. Wait. How?”

Her hand returned to spiritual form without her consent. She couldn’t process the powers at work here to stop her. She forcefully materialized her hand and heaved a sigh of relief.

Haruki couldn’t help but chuckle, breaking his calm exterior for once. Semiramis’s startled expression tickled his funny bone.

Semiramis felt her cheeks growing hot. She warded off the rush of embarrassment with a broad grin. “Aren’t you full of surprises, my master? How did you gain this skill as a… what’s your race, my master? Are you a dragon?”

Haruki pondered briefly before he nodded his head. “Dragon… probably the weakest one alive.”

He wasn’t worried about Semiramis anymore, so he revealed his secret. The only problem with his race was the abundance of dragon-slaying Heroic Spirits and Noble Phantasms.

“Not for long, my master. You’ve broken through your previous limits. One day, you become the pride of your race—a divine class dragon.”

“That might take a long while.”

“I’ll be here to watch over your growth.”

She had to recruit him at all costs now. Nothing was more assuring than having a strong familiar on her side.

“It’s safe to say I’m immune to your attacks now,” Haruki revealed calmly. “Semi, I need your help with Sakura’s case.”

He could try the baptism magecraft of the Holy Church to erase the worms, but he’d rather not experiment on Sakura at all.

“What help? Do you want me to kill her worms?”

“Yes.”

“It’s easy. When are we doing it?”

“After we kill Zouken.”

“Command noted, my master.”

Haruki sighed as he replayed the plan of killing Zouken in his mind. He had to kill Zouken’s worm in Sakura’s body right after killing Zouken. He could either bring Sakura along with others, or left Sakura in Medea and Semiramis’s care.

“What do you think is more effective?” Arch questioned. “More efficient in this case.”

‘The latter one.’

He closed his eyes and tested his new precognition skill. A flurry of information regarding Shinji, Zouken, and Rider streamed through his blank vision.

Three possible outcomes surfaced, each ending in Zouken and Shinji’s deaths. The only variable was Sakura. She was controlled by Zouken, and she managed to overpower Zouken’s control. In the other outcome, Sakura stayed home with Semiramis and Medea and safely escaped the situation. The last ending though left him with a cold spirit.

‘What the fuck is Sakura doing?’

The future Haruki had chosen to stay with Sakura to support her while Artoria, Rider, and Lancer slew Zouken. Even though he remained there to motivate Sakura during the procedure, it achieved the opposite effect. Sakura gave up halfway when Haruki expressed a slight disgust at the worms and made a rash decision to kill herself.

The horror of such an outcome numbed his mind.

‘Good thing I used my precognition.’

Semiramis tapped his shoulder. “Your face is pale as if you saw a ghost.”

“It was a thought more terrifying than a wraith.”